The introduction of the concept of dual diagnosis, the co- occurrence of a substance use disorder and another psychiatric disorder, was revolutionary in the treatment of behavioural health patients. However, as we have developed deeper understanding of attachment, trauma, biology of the brain, family systems and other topics it is clear that to truly understand our patients we must see them through a multidimensional lens of the many experiences that have shaped who they have become and who they wish to be.

An investigation into the tradition of overcoming trauma and poverty by way of traditional fighting sports such as Boxing, Muay Thai & MMA. Boxing has always been a route out of poverty in western society, from Britain and Ireland, to America and Mexico

There is a high incidence of addiction and other mental health disorders amongst adoptees, with a disproportionate number presenting for treatment and recovery programs. As early separation is a relational trauma it manifests later in life as problems in relationships. The impact of trauma on functioning is both physical and psychological.

Many of the wounds people sustain in developmental trauma occur when the right brain is developing, which is tied to the autonomic nervous system and the polyvagal nervous system. While talk therapy can be helpful in recovery from trauma and addiction, many of the therapies we employ as practitioners can be improved upon by using techniques that access the right side of the brain, where the original traumas occurred.

Many of the wounds people sustain in developmental trauma occur when the right brain is developing, which is tied to the autonomic nervous system and the polyvagal nervous system. While talk therapy can be helpful in recovery from trauma and addiction, many of the therapies we employ as practitioners can be improved upon by using techniques that access the right side of the brain, where the original traumas occurred.

Debilitating and complex, shame is among the most destructive of human emotions. Depression, violence and anxiety emerges in a variety of ways that are profoundly damaging to the lives of the people we work with and the lives of those around them.

The mental health system is currently seeing a flood of individuals who are seeking treatment and support in the aftermath of primary relationships with persons with narcissistic and psychopathic disorders. Victims often describe subjective states of going crazy, being a shell of their former selves, profound helplessness, emotional numbing, and an inability to recover a sense of agency or initiative to rebuild their lives.

We live in an age where complex grief is woven into the tapestry of our lives. Many people are struggling to cope in the aftermath of the shocking and brutal loss of someone they love. In our world today, people are grieving the death of a child or other loved one through violence, accident or unpredicted illness.

Research in neurobiology has made clear that our emotions are experienced and processed by the body as well as the mind and that healing from the kind of trauma that living with addiction engenders requires a mind/body approach. Psychodrama and sociometry allow the body to participate in the therapeutic milieu.

Complex Trauma in Women with Compulsive and Addictive Sexual Behaviour Often compulsive and addictive behaviour is thought of as a male problem, however, more and more women are coming forward struggling with the behaviour.

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) has seemed at the forefront of many news items recently and increasingly out there in the public domain. The statistics quoted in the UK are 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men are survivors, higher in other countries such as the USA. Indeed, most of our addiction clients tend to present with underlying trauma, many as a result of CSA. So as clinicians and treatment providers how do we deal with this epidemic in terms of numbers and the resultant increased disclosures and presentations?